Controller.



H. w; 01mm.

CONTROLLER.

APPLIOLTIOH rum) 001221.1901.

Patented Feb. 2, 1909.

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Noam: FEIEns. u Mao WMww-ma 0 C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT w. CHENEY, OF NORWOOD, OHIO, AssIGN R 'ro ALLIS-CHALMERS oonrANi, A

CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY, AND THE BULLOCK ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF OHIO, JOINTLY.

CONTROLLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2, 1909.

Application filed October 21, 1907. Serial No. 398,406.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT W. CHENEY, citizen of the United States, residing at Norwood, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Controllers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to controllers for electric motors.

In the operation of starting controllers for electric motors it is desirable that the controller be left in each starting position until with the controller in such pos tion the motor has gained sufficient counter-electromot'ive force to reduce its armature current to a.

predetermined value. If the controller is moved forward too rapidly, there is liability that the large armature current will do damage.

It is the object of my invention to provide a controller which it is impossible to move forward in anymanner except that above indicated as desirable.

It is a further object of my invention to make such movement automatic.

With these objects in view I provide a con troller in which the controller drum and its operating mechanism are automatically, and positively. locked against speed-increasin movement at each operative position unti with the controller in such position the current in the armature of the controlled motor is below a redeterm ned value. Preferably there is aso provided means whereby the movable part of the controller is biased toward movement in a s eed-increasing direc* tion so that after an initial setting by the operator the further movement of the'controller in such direction requires no care on his art.

T e various novel features of m invention will be apparent from the speci cation and drawin s and be particularly pointed out in the o aims.

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a controller embodying my invention fthe 'controller coverbein'g removed; Fi o is elevation of thecontroller of *1g. 1, the rontlpart of the casing beingremoved; and Fig. s'is a diagrammatic view" showing the complete controlled thereby.

, in Fig. 3.

the edge of the disk 25 as by The controller drum 10 maybe constructed and mounted in any desired manner and is arranged to cooperate with a suitable number of contact fingers 11, also constructed and mounted in any desired manner. On the shaft of the drum 10 is a pinion 12 which meshes with a suitably mounted gear 13. Fixed to rotate with the gear 13 is a notch disk 14, here shown with five notches. The notches of the disk 14 are hi her on one side than on the other, so that t e disk is somewhat in the nature of a ratchet wheel. Arms 15 and 16 are ivoted concentrically with the gear13 and isk 14 but are movable relatively thereto and to each other. The arm 15 is movable by a handle -17 which extends outside of the casing 18 within which the remaining controller parts are located. This arm also carries a pawl 19 which is normally spring-pressed toward engagement with the notched disk 14. The arm 16 is biased in a counter-clockwise direction by a spring 20 its movement in this direction being limited by a stop 21-. a projection 22 which extends into the path of the arm 15 so that when the latter arm is moved in a clockwise direction it carries with it the arm 16 against the action of the spring 20. A stop 23 moves the awl 19 out of engagement with the low si e of any notch of the notch-plate 14 with which it may bein engagement when the arm 15 is in its extreme ositionin a counter-clockwise direction, t e off position. in its extreme osition in a clockwise direction, also an 0 position, the awl 19 is movable out of engagement wit 1 both sides of any notch of the notch disk 14.by pushing in the normally outwardly spring-pressed plunger 24. 7

On the shaft of the controller drum are twodisks 25 and 26, the former being provided with ratchet teeth and the latter with cam surfaces, a. b, c and d, as clearly shown One arm 27 of a bell-crank lever is spring-pressed toward engagement with t 1e spring 28, while t 1e other arm 29 of said bell-crank: lever is normally just out of engagementwith the -disk 26 but is arranged to be brought into engagement therewith by a solenoid 30.

The arm 27 cooperates with ratchet teeth on the disk 25 to stop the forward movement of This arm 16 is provided with l When the arm15 is the controller drum at every starti osition. The solenoid 30 is controlle y a solenoid switch31, the solenoid 32 of which is n the circuit of the motor armature A. The circuit of the solenoid is also controlled by the lowest contact segment and finger of the controller so that it is completed only when the controller is in one of the starting positions.

With the arts in the positions shown in the es t e controller is in off position. In or er to move the controller through the starting positions to the running osition, the arm 15 is moved in a clockwise 'rection until the riawl 19 engageswith the next notch 9n the dis 14. As the arm 15 is thus moved it enga es with the projection 22 on the arm 16 an carries said arm along with it, stretching the 3 ring 20. The pawl 19 havmg engaged wit thenotch 14 say, the arm 15, now in its extreme position in a clockwise direction, is released by the operator. The contracting of the sprin 20 moves the arms 16 and 15 and through t cm the disk 14 and gear 13 in a counter-clockwise direction, and the pinion 12 and controller drum 10 in a clockwise direction. W hen the drum 10 reaches its first operative position, the arm 27 eng es the firsttooth of the disk 25 to hold said disk and the drum positively ainst further rotation in this direction un- .or unless with the controller in this osition the current is below a predetermined value; In the latter case thesolenoid 32 in the. motorhrmature circuit, the motor circuitshavi'ng been completed as the controller drum approached position 1, allows the switch 31 to'remain or become closed, as the case may be, to energize the solenoid 30 and move the arm 27 out of the path of the first tooth of the disk 25.- Because the cam sur-' face a was in the we or; the inward movementof the arm 29, t -e'ai'in'27 could not be moved out 10f. the'path of the first tooth of the disk 25 even tho momentarily energize as the controller approached position 1 This action is further guarded "against ,b arranging the bottom;

contact s cut 0 the'controller drum as shown so t at it does not e age with its cooperating contact finger until after the motor circuits have been completed. When heiiause'the motor armature current is below the redetermincd value for which the E to '31 is set the=arm 27 is moved out of 0 Path of the first tooth of the disk 25, the, spring 20 continues its contraction and" one the drum 1O farther in a clockwise h the solenoid 30 was ran ed to cut this resistance into the circuit of t e field winding F of the motor as shown, or may be arranged to leave such field circuit without external resistance throughout the controller positions. Vi hen the motor armature current has dropped below a predetermined value or if the cutting out of the first section oi the resistance R has not raised such current above such value, the solenoid 30 is ener zed to move the, arm 27 out of the path 0 the second disk of the tooth 25 to allow the drum 10 to continue its movement under the influence of the spring 20 to the third operative position. This step-by-ste movement is continued until the control er reaches thefifth or running position, when the arm 16 engages the stop 21 so that the spring 20 can contract no farther. Thus in each of'the starting positions 1, 2, 3 and 4, the s iced-increasing movement of the controller rum is stopped until or unless with the controller in such position the current in the motor armature A and the solenoid 32 is below a redetermined value. There is no tooth on t e disk 25 for the fifth or the off positions, so that the controller drum can a Ways be moved in a clockwise direction from such positions. Consequently there is no cam surface on the disk 26 just ahead of such positions. In the movement above described there is no possibility that on account of the sluggishness of the lockin parts the controller will be moved forwar more than one notch at a time. On account of the cam surfaces a, b, c and (Z on the disk 26, the arm 29 is forced outward and the arm 27 inward into proper position to lock the controller drum at each starting position unless the conditions for forward movement from such ositions prevail.

If it is esired to stop the movement of the controller at any position, the operator can do this by grasping the handle 17. It is not intended to be possible for the controller to be left indefinitel in any starting position unattended. he controller can be moved backward from any starting or iiideed from the running position, if it is so desired, by moving the arm 15 manuall in a clockwise direction, With the hand e 15 in its extreme clockwise position the pawl 19 may be released from the disk 14, so that if the motor was sto ed by a backward movement of the contrcfiliar from any starting position or the running position, it will not be necessary for the operator to continue to hold the handle 17 From the running position the controller may also be moved to the ofi position by pushing the handle 17 and arm 15 in a counter-clockwise direction. This is the normal method of reaching the ofi' position. en the arm 15 is thus moved to the off position the stop 23, is engaged by the pawl 19 to move said pawl so that it will clear the low side of the notch when with the contr 14 say, thus allowing the arm 15 to be moved in a clockwise direction from its extreme counter-clockwise osition without carrying the disk '14 and ot ier parts with it. By this movement the controller may be set for another com lete operation. If it is desired that there Ric noautomatic movement of the controller, this can be obtained by simply omitting the arm 16 and spring 20.

it any modifications may be made in the precise arrangement here shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and all such I ann to cover in the following claims.

What I claim as new is:--

1. In combination, an electric motor, a controller tl erefor comprising two relatively movable members, and means for positively preventing relative speed-increasing movement of said members beyond any position unless with the controller in such osition the current in the motor armature is elow a predetermined value.

2. In combination, an electric motor, a controller therefor comprising two relatively movable members, and means for positively stoppin the relative speed-increasmg movement of said members at everv operative position unless \n'th the controiler in such position the current in the motor armature is below a predetermined value.

3. In combination, an electric motor, a controller tlerefor comprising two relatively movable members, means for normally positively preventing relative speed-increasing movement of said members beyond any 0 erative position, and means for automaticaily releasing said reventive means only o iler in such position the current in the motor armature is below a predetermined value.

4. In combination, an electric motor, a controller therefor comprising two relatively movable members means for normally-positively stopping the relative speed-increasing movement of said members at every operative position, and means for automatically rendering said stopping means inoperative only when with the controller in such position the current in the motor armature is below a predetermined value.

5. In combination, an electricmotor, a controller therefor com rising two relatively movable members, an means controlled by an electromagnetic winding in the motor armature circuit for positively preventin relative speed-increasing movement of sal members beyond any position unless with the controller in such osition the current in the motor armature is slow a predetermined value. 1

6. In combination, an electric motor, a controller therefor comprising two relatively movable members, and means controlled by an electromagnetic winding in the motor armature circuit .for positively stopping the relative speed-increasing movement of said members at every operative position unless with the controller in such position the cur rent in the motor armature is below a predetermined value.

7. In combination, an electric motor, a controller therefor comprising two relatively movable members, means for normally positively preventing relative s eed increasing movement of said members eyond any operative position, and electromagnetic means for releasing said preventive means only when with the controller in such osition the current in the motor armature is elow a predetermined value.

8. In combination, an electric motor, a controller therefor comprising two relativelv movable members, means for normally positively stopping the relative speed-increasing movement of said members at every operative position, and electromagnetic means for rendering said stopping means inoperative only when with the controller in such position the current in the motor armature is below a predetermined value.

In combination, an electric motor, a controller therefor comprising two relatively movable members, means for normally positively preventing relative meal-increasing movement of said members beyond any operative position, electromagnetic means for releasing said preventive means, and means for. rendering said releasingmeans operative only when'with the controller in such opera tive position the current in the motor armature is below a predetermined value.

10. In combination, an electric motor, a controller therefor comprising two relativel r movable members, means for normally positively stopping the relative speed-increasing movement of said members at every operative position, electromagnetic means for rendering said stop )ing means inoperative, and means for renderin said electromagnetic means operative on y when with the controller in such position the current in the motor armature is below a predetermined value.

11. In combination, an electric mot-or, a controller therefor comprising two relatively movable members, means for normally posi tively preventing relative peed-increasing movement of said members beyond any operative position, electromagnetically operated means for releasing said preventive means, and a magnet coil in series with the motor armature for rendering said releasing means inoperative whenever with the controller in such position the current in the motor armature is above a predetermined value.

12. In combination, an electric motor, a controller therefor comprising two relatively movable members, means for normally positively stopping the relative speed-increasing movement of said members at every operative position, electromagnetic means for rendaring said sto )ping means inoperative, and a solenoid in t 10 motor armature circuit for rendering said electromagnetic means inoperative whenever with the controller in sucl position the current in the motor armature is above a predetermined value.

13. In combination, an electric motor, a controller therefor comprising two relatively movable members, means for biasing said members to relative movement in a direction to increase the speed of said motor, and means for reventing such relative movement of sai members beyond any position unless with the controller in such position the current in the motor armature is below a predetermined value.

14. In combination, an electric motor, a controller therefor comprising two relatively movable members, means for biasing said members to relative movement in a direction to increase the speed of said motor, and means for stopping such movement of said members at every operative position unless with the controller in such position the current in the motor armature is below a predetermined value.

15. In combination, an electric motor, a controller therefor comprising two relatively movable members, means for biasing said members to relative movement in a direction to increase the speed of the motor, means for normally reventing such movement oi said members .ieyond any operative position, and means for releasing said preventing means when with the controller in such position the current in the motor armature is below a predetermined value.

16. In combination, an electric motor, a

controller therefor comprising two relatively movable members, means for biasing said members to relative movement in a direction to increase the speed of the motor, means for normally stopping such movement of said members at every operative position, and means for rendering said stoppin means inoperative when with the controller in such osition the current in the motor armature 1s lielow a predetermined value.

17. In a controller for electric motors, the combination of fixed and movable members, and means for biasing said movable member from the off position through the starting position or positions to the running osition and for manually moving said movab e member in the same direction from the running position to the off position.

18. In a controller for electric motors, the combination of fixed and movable members, means for biasing said movable member from the off position through the starting position or positions to therunning position and fpr manually moving said movable member in the same direction from the running position to the off position, and means for automatically stopping such movenn-ni of said movable member at a starting position until wit h said member in such position the motor armature current is below a prcdelcrmimnl value.

19. In a controller for electric motors, the combination of fixed and movable members, means for biasing said movable member from the off position through the starting position or positions to the running )ositiun and for manually mo vin g said movable n icmbcr in the same direction from the running )osition to the ell position, means for normally stopping said movable member at a starting position, and means for rendering said stopping means inoperative when the motor armature current is below a predetermined value.

20. In a controller for electric motors, the combination of fixed and movable members, means for biasing said movable member from the oii position through the starting position or positions to the running position and for mannx'iiy moving said movable member in the one direction from the running osition to the off position, means for normally stoppin said movable member at each starting position, and electromagnetic means for rendering said sto )ing means inoperative when with the moval il e member in such starting position the motor armature current is below a predetermined value.

21. In a controller for electric motors, the combination. of fixed and movable members, means for biasing said movable member from the off position through the starting position or positions to the running )ositiun arid for manually moving said movable member in the same direction from the running position to the off position, means for normally stopping said movable member at a starting position, an electromagnetic device for rendering said stopping means ineil'ective, and means for energizing said electromagnetic device when the current in the motor armature below a predetermined value.

22. In a controller for electric motors, the combination of fixed and movable members, means for biasing said movable member from the ofi' position through the starting position or positions to the running position and for manually moving said. movable member in the same direction from the running )osition to the off position, means for normally stoppii 1;; said movable member at a starting position, an electromagnetic device for rendering said stopping means ineffective, and means for energizing said electromagnetic device only when said movable member is in a starting position and the current in the motor armature is below a predetermined value.

23. In a controller for electric motors, the combination of fixed and movable members, means for biasin said movable member from the oii position through thestarting position or positions to the running position and for manually moving said movable member the same direction from the running osition. to the off position, means for norma y stopping said movable member at each starting position, an electromagnetic device for rendering said stopping means ineffective, and means for denergizing said electromagnetic device Whenever the motor armature current is above a predetermined value.

24. In a controller for electric motors, the combination of fixed and movable members, means for biasing said movable member from the off position through the starting vposition or positions to the running position and for manually moving said movable member in the same direction from the running osition to the off position, means for norma y stop ping said movable member at each starting position, an electromagnetic device for rendering said stopping means ineffective, and means for de'mergizing said electromagnetic device whenever the motor armature cur-' rent is above a predetermined value or said movable member is in running position.

25. In a controller for electric motors, the combination of lined and movable members, means for biasing said movable member from the off position th ough the starting position or positions to the running position and for manually moving said movable member in the same direction from the running osition to the off position, means for normal y stopping said movable member at each starting position, an electromagnetic device for rendering said stopping means ineffective, a normally closed switch in the circuit of the electromagnetic device, and a solenoid in the motor armature circuit for opening said switch when the armature current is above a predetermined value.

26. In a controller for electric motors, the combination of fixed and movable members, means for biasing said movable member from the off position through the starting position or positions to the running position and for manually movirig said movable member in the same direction from the running osition to the off position, means for norma y stopping said movable member at each starting position, an electromagnetic device for rend ring said stopping means ineffective, a normally closed switch in the circuit of the electromagnetic device, a solenoid in the motor armature circuit for opening said switch when the armature current is above a pre determined value, and means for opening the circuit of said electromagnetic device when the controller is in running position.

27. In a controller for electric motors the combination of fixed and movable members, means for biasing said move his member from the off position through the starting position or positions to the running position and for manually moving said movable member in the same direction from the running osition to the off position, means for normal y stopping said movable member at each starting SOSltiOII, an electromagnetic device for renering said stopping means ineffective, a normally closed switch in the circuit of the electromagnetic device, a solenoid in the motor armature circuit for opening said switch when the armature current is above a predetermined value, and means'for opening the circuit of said electromagnetic device when the controller is in either running or oil position.

28. In a controller for electric motors, the combination of fixed and movable members, said movable member being movable normally always in one direction from the off position-through the starting position or ositions and the running position to the o position again, and means for normally positively stopping said movable member at each of the starting positions.

29. In a controller for electric motors, the combination of fixed and movable members, said movable member being movable normally always in one direction from the off position through the starting position or positions and the running position to the off position again, and means for normally sto]p-' ping said movable member at each of tie starting positions until with the controller in such position the motor armature current is below a predetermined value.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

HERBERT W. CHENEY.

Witnesses:

Geo. B. SCHLEY, FRED J. KINSEY. 

